Never Again
by WickedgreenPhantom
Summary: Every year Jack and Kristoff swear that it will be the last time they get up early in order to beat the crowds to the annual Christmas pageant. Every year they swear that they won't deal with the pushy crowds again. Every year they fail to keep their promise.


It's 5am on a Saturday morning in early November and Jack should be curled up in bed, his arm draped over Elsa's sleeping body, but he's not.

Instead he is seated on a picnic blanket on a sidewalk in downtown Arendelle, nestled in his hand is a thermos of coffee. His eyes glance over towards Kristoff who is lazing on a fold out chair, his long legs stretching out from under him. The brawny man lets out a loud yawn as he glances at his phone. Pulling out a spare travel mug, Jack pours a coffee and passes it to Kristoff who nods appreciatively.

Few words are said, both men are tired and would rather be curled up asleep in their beds. Looking around Jack sees that they are not the only people who have arrived early, in fact there are quite a few people who have had the same idea of getting up early to secure a good spot, all arriving with blankets, chairs and stuff to keep them occupied for the next few hours.

Slowly the city springs to life. The last of the night-time revellers have long gone, and the street cleaners are out tidying the streets. The seedy remnants of alcohol-fuelled fun being swept away to make way for a more family friendly looking city.

By the time it has hit 8am the empty spaces on the sidewalk are no more, instead they are filled with families. The children are abuzz with a happy energy as they fill out onto the road which has been cordoned off from vehicles.

Jack's energy lifts as he watches the children run around, playing tag, or drawing on the road with chalk. He notes how even the police are in good spirits, slowly riding down on motorbikes, stopping to chat with families.

Jack chuckles as he watches one police officer get down on his knees and allow a small boy, no older than four to 'arrest him'. The officer grins, and places his hat on the child's head, then beams as the proud Mum snaps a photo of her son with the officer.

By 9am the girls have arrived, fresh off the train which brought them into the city. Jack stifles a yawn as Elsa gracefully sits herself by his side. Nestling into his arms as she hands him a fresh cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant. He's about to say something when the sound of Kristoff's loud grumble fills the air.

Turning to look at Kristoff, a loud laugh escapes his throat, the tired man is doing his best to appear annoyed at the presence of a Santa Claus hat, complete with bells being shoved onto his head. However, the mans facade is ruined by the twinkle in his eyes as his 3 year old daughter Lily sits bouncing on his lap, fascinated by her fathers appearance.

Jack opens his mouth to tease Kristoff, the perfect insult is on the tip of his tongue when he too feels the sudden appearance of a hat on his head. Smirking he turns to face Anna who flashes him a grin.

Instead he shoots Kristoff a look of understanding. The kind of look which says 'I feel your pain,' as their wives pull out their respective camera's and ask a passer-by to capture the moment. Together Jack and Kristoff manage to get their own back, poking their tongues out at the last moment before sitting and posing for a more serious photo.

The sound of music fills the air as members of the state police make their way down the road on horseback. The children all oohing and aahing at the majestic animals move slowly down the road. Heralding the start of the annual Christmas pageant.

Eventually Jack moves onto the fold up chair. Pulling Elsa to sit on his lap as they watch their niece shriek with happiness. A woman dressed up as the tooth fairy stands in front of her, playfully chiding Lily for nibbling on a piece of chocolate.

"Pretty!" exclaims Lily, her hands reaching to point at the woman's colourful costume.

Anna brings her her camera out, quickly snapping a picture as Lily gives the 'tooth fairy' a big hug, clearly enamoured by the young woman.

As the pageant continues, the look of wonder on Lily's small face never fades. She waves joyfully as the floats pass by, and insists on hugging each and every pageant participant who comes near her. Jack manages to capture a video of Lily jumping up and down, gleefully showing a man in a rabbit costume how to hop.

Finally, the man they've all been waiting for comes by. Perched atop a magnificent sled with fake reindeer 'flying' is Santa Claus, Lily is over excited and giggles loudly as her small arms wave furiously. Her eyes widening as the jolly man appears to look right at her.

Jack lets out a wave, making a mental note to thank Nick later.

"Think you'd win major brownie points if Lily knew that her Uncle Jack knows Santa," whispered Elsa, her lips grazing Jack's ear.

Turning his head, Jack gives her a quick peck on the lips, after all, it's just good luck that Jack and Nick happen to have been childhood friends. Naturally Jack can never tell a soul, least of all Lily, although, he isn't against requesting a special wave go out to his young niece.

Finally, the pageant has passed, quickly the adults get to their feet, Anna gently places her daughter back into her stroller as Kristoff, Elsa and Jack set about packing up their chairs and picnic blanket.

The crowd is thick, families from all over the city and state slowly merge with the rest of the shoppers in the heart of the city as they struggle to make their way to the car. Despite only being a short walk from their car park, the walk seems to take longer, Jack shakes his head in disbelief as an impatient family brush past them, rudely knocking into him, causing the chair he was carrying to dig into his hip without even a second glance.

"You okay?" Elsa asks, taking the fold out chair from him as Jack runs a hand over his knocked hip.

He nods, and snakes an arm out, pulling her close to him in order to keep her from suffering the same fate. Up ahead he can see other families shaking their heads, the pushy family having left a trail of annoyed people as they brushed past.

Eventually they make it to Kristoff's large SUV. Anna straps Lily into her carseat and they slowly pile into the car.

Kristoff grumbles as he taps away at the steering wheel, it's bumper to bumper in the parking lot as people strive to leave the city. Navigating the car onto the road, they move at a snails pace as more and more traffic merges onto the road from the various parking lots.

Jack feels a weight on his shoulder. He raises his eyebrows as he catches sight of Elsa as she falls asleep, her hair tickling his chin. He has half a mind to wake her and remind her that she at least got to sleep in until 7am, whilst he has been awake since 3am. However he looks at her and his eyes soften, she looks so endearing as her chest rises and falls with her slowed breathing.

Instead he softly rests his head on hers and closes his eyes. Stifling a laugh as he hears Kristoff grumble good naturedly whilst Anna and Lily talk animatedly. The youngster may have her fathers blonde hair, but the energy and lust for life is all Anna.

Finally, they arrive home, Jack gently turns to wake Elsa who leans against him, yawning as they say farewell to Anna and Kristoff.

A few hours later and Jack is curled up on the couch with Elsa. A small bruise has appeared on his hip from the impact of the bump he received.

"Remind me to never agree to do that again," he moans, watching as Elsa applies a soft kiss to the bruise.

Her eyes meet his, a knowing smile appears on her face. "Anna sent me a text, apparently Kristoff said the same thing," she murmured.

…..-X-...

A year has passed and once again Kristoff and Jack find themselves camped out on the sidewalk of downtown Arendelle at 5am. This time they've made sure to pack double the amount of coffee.

Kristoff is fast asleep, snoring, his head droops lazily on his shoulder. Jack snaps a photo, uploading it to Facebook and making sure to tag Kristoff. He considers making a joke about how Kristoff can sleep through the noise as a street sweeper drives past slowly, but he remembers that Kristoff is married to Anna, and the father of Lily, and their 2 month old daughter Roxanne. He chortles to himself, thinking that compared to life in the Bjorgman home, the early morning city noises must be positively quiet.

Finally 9am rolls around. Elsa, Anna and the girls have arrived. Jack gets up from his chair, gently assisting Elsa into the seat. Lily has once again climbed onto her fathers lap. Jack watches as Kristoff flinches as Lily's knee digs into a delicate area. The small girl is oblivious to her beloved fathers pain as she wriggles to get comfortable.

Leaning over, Jack gently places a kiss on Elsa's stomach. "Promise me you'll take after your graceful mother," he murmurs to the small 16 week old bump.

Jack groans as his 4 year old niece plonks herself down on his lap, wriggling herself into a comfortable position. He hears a laugh, turning his head he sees Kristoff holding up his phone, the photo Jack took earlier on display. "Payback's a witch, Frost," he smirks.

The sounds of the pageant starting causes Lily to jump up and down excitedly on Jack's lap. He groans from the impact, but the pain is forgotten as he watches the joy on his niece's face as she moves from her lap to make sure that her new baby sister is watching the pageant as well.

This time, the family have become wiser, as the signs of Santa's sleigh comes into sight they are up. Slowly packing their blanket, chairs away and strapping Roxanne into her pram. They stand in anticipation, and the instant that Santa has passed they make their move. Eager to get any amount of head start on beating the crowds.

As the crowds merge once again, Jack feels himself becoming protective. His eyes move to Elsa and her small bump. Instinctively he pulls her close to him, placing her hand around his waist whilst his spare hand moves to rest on her small bump. His eyes are hard, staring into the crowd. He is a man determined to protect not only his wife, but their unborn baby from the bustling crowd.

To his left he can see that Kristoff has also pulled Anna close to him, one arm draped around her waist as she pushes Roxanne's pram. The other hand firmly holds onto Lily who is perched on his hip.

Jack feels his body relax as they finally make it back to the car. Grateful that this year they managed to get by without being bumped into by rude people. He watches as Elsa helps Anna secure Lily and Roxanne into their seats before climbing into the car.

Later that evening, Jack is lying curled up in their bedroom with Elsa resting on his chest. Gently he strokes her hair as she reads a chapter of her book.

"That was the last time we're doing that," he yawns, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

Elsa's body shakes as she lets out a dismissive laugh. "I don't believe you," she says.

Lifting his head up, he looks at her. "Why's that?," he asks. "It's a long day, especially for Kristoff and I, it's crowded, traffic is a mess getting out of the city, there is always that one family who are rude, arrogant and pushy."

"The kids love it, you know as well as I do that it's worth it to see the look on our nieces' faces, and next year it will be even more worth it because we'll have our own baby," Elsa points out, gently kissing his lips before shifting to lie down beside him.

…-X-...

A year has passed and Elsa smiles as she snaps a photo. Both her boys are fast asleep on the couch. Jack has his arms wrapped protectively around their 7 month old son, Lucas.

Gently she pries his hands off, lifting Lucas and carrying him into the nursery where she places a soft kiss on his forehead before laying him down to rest in his cot. She stands for a moment, taking in the small boy who looks so much like his father.

Her eyes move to the newest photo. A photo of her, Jack, and Lucas with Santa Claus which they had taken today. It had been Jack who decided to stay behind after the pageant, and wait in the queue for a photo with his friend Nick who played Santa.

Jack's arms snake around her as he snuggles up to her, his head resting on her shoulder as he looks at their new family photo. "Hope Lucas appreciates we waited in line for 45 minutes simply so we could pay to have a photo taken with Nick dressed as Santa," he mumbles. "I swear the crowds at the pageant get worse every year."

Reaching her arm behind her, she strokes his soft hair. "You complain about it every year, and yet I know for a fact that we'll go again next year," she points out, pulling his head towards her for a kiss.

"Not happening, not again," Jack protests between kisses, his hands moving to turn her to face him.

She laughs, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You lie Jack, you know that this time next year you'll be saying the exact same thing. Besides, it's all about the kids anyway," she counters.

Jack sighs, his eyes flicker to their sleeping son. "You know I hate it when you call my bluff right?" he quips.

Elsa sighs, slowly pulling him towards the door. "You know I love you," she remarks.

Less than an hour later and Elsa has snuggled up to Jack as they lie in their bed. His hands softly trace her body whilst her hands gently caress his face.

"Next year I'm going to take an extra thermos of coffee though. Bloody Kristoff drank most the coffee this year," Jack snickers before falling to lie on his back.

Elsa smiles, as she wriggles closer, resting her head on Jack's chest. Content in knowing that they've survived yet another pageant day and only have another year to wait for the next one.

**A/N- This fluff is based off a true story. My granddad once walked with his hand protectively placed in front of my Mum's stomach when she was pregnant with me. Hence the idea of Jack doing that came about. **

**For this story, I've set it in Southern hemisphere, where it is Spring in November and starting to get warm. The Christmas Pageant, and the idea of people getting up super early to secure a spot is all based off of my own experiences with my states Christmas Pageant. **

**This little fluff goes out to the lovely Rokusan23 who mentioned recently that she frequently sees her name used as a 'nasty' character. Hence I gave one of Anna/ Kristoff's daughters after her name..because come on, Anna and Kristoff are adorable and their children could only be just as adorable and sweet. **


End file.
